[RndTbl] Jumpy mice

Gilles Detillieux grdetil at scrc.umanitoba.ca
Mon Sep 14 15:27:41 CDT 2009


I've seen that jumpy behaviour in optical mice before.  In some cases, 
it was high-contrast diagonal lines on some mouse pads that seemed to 
confuse the mouse, so replacing (or removing) the mouse pad fixed the 
problem.  In other cases, it was the mouse that was failing and needed 
to be replaced.

Despite the marketing hype around laser mice, I do find they track 
better on most surfaces, though some surfaces will confuse even laser 
mice.  Logitech will be putting out a dual-laser mouse soon that can 
even track on a glass table, but it'll be fairly pricey ($100 price range).

If you're looking for a good cordless notebook mouse, several people 
here at the SCRC are quite happy with the Logitech V450 cordless laser 
mouse.  It runs for up to a year on 2 AA alkaline cells and has a tiny 
USB receiver that tucks into the mouse.  TigerDirect has them for about $54.

On 11/09/2009 11:05 PM, Daniel J. Salomon wrote:
> At the last meeting I reported my problems with jumpy optical mice.
> I had similar problems with five mice made by Logitech, Microsoft, and a 
> generic
> manufacturer. Every few minutes, the mice would cause the cursor to jump 
> unpredictably to the top or bottom of the screen. The cursor would then 
> have to be dragged back to the working area. An old fashioned ball mouse 
> had no such problems although ball mice have their own annoying 
> deficiencies.
>  
> On the advice of one of the members, I tried a laser mouse. I bought 
> a Logitech MX400 Performance Laser Mouse for about $50. It solved my 
> problems. It gives smooth and reliable response. I had previously 
> thought that the word "laser" in mouse descriptions was just advertising 
> hype and provided no actual advantage over an optical mouse.
>  
> Thank you to whoever it was that made that suggestion.
>  
> Daniel Salomon

-- 
Gilles R. Detillieux              E-mail: <grdetil at scrc.umanitoba.ca>
Spinal Cord Research Centre       WWW:    http://www.scrc.umanitoba.ca/
Dept. Physiology, U. of Manitoba  Winnipeg, MB  R3E 0J9  (Canada)


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